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Happy 50th Anniversary to
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on PBS!

It’s a beautiful day in the Central Texas neighborhood… because of YOU!

There’s a lot to celebrate this March at KLRU! We’re six days into our Spring Fund Drive and on March 20th we commemorate Mister Rogers’ birthday and his 50 groundbreaking years on public television.

The man who taught millions of young viewers that they should be loved exactly as they are has nurtured kindness in generations. Mister Rogers’ thoughtful lessons emphasized the great importance of a safe, educational space like PBS—made available for free to every American. KLRU is proud to be a part of this legacy.

If Mister Rogers inspired your love of PBS…if you believe that the quality content on KLRU is worth funding and protecting…consider making a gift during the KLRU Spring Drive!

Make sure to tune-in to KLRU tonight at 7 p.m. for Mister Rogers: Its You I Like. As a tribute on this 50th Anniversary of Fred Rogers on PBS—and after nearly 900 episodes—stars like Whoopi Goldberg, John Lithgow, Yo-Yo Ma, Sarah Silverman and more reveal some of their favorite Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood moments.

P.S. KLRU has some exclusive online only Mister Rogers gifts. Rock a retro PBS look around town with one of these fun thank you items when you donate!

KLRU and Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area joined forces to offer a fun 4-day Ruff Ruffman Sensational Science Camp for 10 kids ages 5-8 at Meadowbrook Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA) club. The children learned about science through hands-on projects, digital games, and videos that revolve around one of our favorite PBS KIDS characters, Ruff Ruffman. The kids learned to think like scientists as they engaged in the engineering design process which focuses on identifying real-world problems and designing solutions.

It’s great to be able to listen to the children’s perspective on their camp experience. Brittany Gant, the Boys & Girls Clubs STEM Coordinator, came up with the idea of having the kids vlog. She wanted them to be comfortable when talking about what they learned. Brittany explains that she “allowed club members to be in their element, technology based social media, and integrate it with what they were learning at the Ruff Ruffman camp so that they could connect it to their lives in a meaningful way.”

We asked three 8 year old girls about their science camp experience. Meet Karlee, Ferrah, and Brooklyn! Watch the video above to hear them talking about the camp!

Both Ferrah and Brooklyn mentioned that the camp reinforced their strong work ethic and helped them learn the value of persistence, two important life skills that will serve them into adulthood. Ferrah later shared with KLRU that she learned to plan before creating something new. Karlee valued the opportunity to work in small groups to collaborate and problem-solve as a team.

In a moment of self-awareness, Ferrah acknowledged her inquisitive nature and her ability to use her imagination to be innovative. Brooklyn revealed her aptitude for resolving investigations.

The camp revolves around the PBS KIDS character, Ruff Ruffman, and as Ferrah excitedly shared, “he is a great scientist!” Brooklyn points out that he is very knowledgeable. It’s wonderful that these kids now have a role model. Perhaps they will be inspired to follow in his footsteps and become scientists themselves!

As the KLRU Project Director for Ready to Learn, I was present at the camp and was particularly impressed by Ferrah. I asked Lauren Jarvis, the Club Director, to tell me more about her. Lauren shared that Ferrah “really likes doing new things” and “likes everything science and technology.” Even though she is only 8 years old, Ferrah participates in Google’s CS First, a computer science program designed for 9 to 14 year old children. Lauren has observed that she completes the lessons and understands the material and the processes being used. Ferrah also participates in Hour of Code alongside her friends, Karlee and Brooklyn. Ferrah is also very creative and artistic. Lauren thinks that “she is very special and has a bright future ahead of her.” Here at KLRU, we couldn’t agree more! It is our hope to continue to support children like Ferrah to be successful in school and life.

The Ruff Ruffman Sensational Science Camp is part of the Ready to Learn (RTL) initiative funded by the Department of Education and administered by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS. Our Community Collaborative for Early Learning and Media (CC-ELM) project brings RTL science and literacy content to children ages 2 to 8 from low-income households. KLRU partners with local community organizations to host camps and workshops at their sites. Our partners are Thinkery, Communities In Schools of Central Texas, and Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area.

Please visit the PBS Learning Media Ready to Learn portal to learn more about this initiative and to access resources for families and educators.

There are just 10 days left to get your Special Valentines tickets to Daniel Tiger!

❤️ Don’t miss Daniel Tiger and all his neighborhood friends live! This engaging musical delights little kids and grown-ups alike with its vibrant production and important lessons about being a good friend. Give your family a Valentine’s present to remember with this exclusive offer from KLRU! ❤️

Donate $200 and we’ll thank you with a family 4-pack of tickets to this magical adventure at Bass Concert Hall February 24 at 5:30 p.m.

These are exclusive seats reserved just for KLRU donors and tickets are limited!

And the live tour could not be better timed as 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the show that inspired the creation of Daniel Tiger in the first place: Mr Roger’s Neighborhood.

Surprise your family with make-believe and grr-ific fun this Valentine’s Day! ❤️ Click on the orange donate button to give today and celebrate with us on February 24! Donate by February 21—tickets must be picked up at the KLRU offices.

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a robot chef that could make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? You would have to program it by giving it very specific instructions.

That is how children and their parents start learning about coding in the Family Creative Learning (FCL) PBS KIDS Scratch Jr. workshops. The families learn to animate their favorite PBS KIDS characters using the PBS KIDS Scratch Jr. app on Playtime Pads, a tablet that they get to keep at the end of the workshop.

KLRU and our local children’s museum, Thinkery, hosted a fun FCL PBS KIDS Scratch Jr. workshop in October. Nine young children and their parents learned concepts of coding by reading books and participating in fun movement activities. They built paper airplanes to practice using the design engineering process (imagine, plan, build, test, repeat).

The children and their parents created animation projects together. Parents learned from their kids as much as the kids learned from their parents. You could see a lot of smiles in the room.

One child was very excited when he shared: “Now my mom knows technology & can do it with me!”

We hope that all families feel just as empowered that they can now create their own animations.

KLRU also partners with Communities In Schools (CIS) to host workshops. This month, 8 families that are part of their ASPIRE family literacy program are currently participating in a Family Creative Learning PBS KIDS Scratch Jr. workshop. Those families are just as excited and are having a blast learning how to code.

Also, this month 8 additional families are participating in the new Ruff Ruffman Sensational Science Family Creative Learning workshop at Thinkery. The Ruff Ruffman FCL workshop will help children learn science by playing with mixtures, investigating material science, exploring force and motion, and creating structures.

They will also learn about those topics by watching short Ruff Ruffman videos and playing digital games on Playtime Pads (tablets that they will get to keep).

FCL workshops are part of the Ready to Learn (RTL) initiative funded by the Department of Education and administered by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and PBS. Our Community Collaborative for Early Learning and Media (CC-ELM) project brings RTL science and literacy content to children ages 2 to 8 from low-income households as well as their families and educators. KLRU partners with local community organizations to host workshops at their sites for the children that they serve. Our partners are Thinkery, Communities In Schools of Central Texas, and Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area.

There’s a ton of spooky fun coming to PBS KIDS this October! In addition to the October 23rd premiere of Arthur and the Haunted Tree House on television and streaming devices, there are new Halloween episodes from Odd Squad, Splash and Bubbles, Sesame Street, and Cyberchase. There will also be the return of the hit specials: The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Halloween! and Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest.

Carve out some time with your little one and create a PBS KIDS jack o’ lantern. We’ve made it easy for you with these pumpkin carving templates.

Do you have your Halloween costumes yet? PBS KIDS for Parents has all kinds of DIY costume suggestions including some from your favorite PBS KIDS shows!

Arthur and the Haunted Tree House features a sleepover. If your kids are excited about the idea of having a sleepover, but aren’t quite ready, Arthur has a daytime activity you can use to practice before you try the real thing.

This fall, PBS will also offer PreK-12 teachers an easy way to integrate Halloween themes into their instruction with a range of curriculum-aligned videos, lesson plans and games. Teachers can use these resources to enhance homework assignments or kick-start classroom discussions. These free resources are available to teachers nationwide on pbslearningmedia.org. Examples include Peg + Cat’s Tiger Trick or Treat, PBS LearningMedia’s All About the Holidays: Halloween, PBS Digital Studios’ Frankenstein, M.D. and more.

KLRU will be participating in two Back To School Fairs to launch the 2017-2018 school year!

Please look for our booth at the following events for great information to help you and your children have a jump on being school ready. We will have great information on our 24/7 Kids channel, free app information, activity sheets, frisbees and books to distribute.

The solar eclipse on August 21st is fast approaching. You can watch it live on KLRU Q starting at 1:30 pm.
Follow the links to explore ways to engage kids as they learn about the solar eclipse. And by all means, do NOT let them look directly at the eclipse when it occurs without special protection!

In addition to the above resources, NOVA will be airing a special episode called Eclipse Over America on Monday, August 21 at 8:00 pm on 18-1 KLRU. It will air 2 days later on Wednesday, August 23rd at 7:00 pm on 18-1 KLRU.

For younger students, you may want to show the kids the 13 minute Ready Jet Go!Total Eclipse of the Sunspot episode that teaches kids about the solar eclipse and how to create a pinhole box viewer to be able to see the eclipse without hurting their eyes. Airtimes

Join KLRU and the Austin Public Library for the Indie Lens Pop-Up screening of the documentary The Bad Kids. This free event takes place Tuesday, March 7th, at 7 pm at the Austin Public Library Windsor Park Branch 5833 Westminster Dr., Austin, TX, 78723.

Vintage TV

Located in an impoverished Mojave Desert community, Black Rock Continuation High School is an alternative for at-risk students with little hope of graduating from a traditional high school. It’s their last chance. This coming of age story shows extraordinary educators and talented students combatting the crippling effects of poverty.

Indie Lens Pop-Up is a neighborhood series that brings people together for film screenings and community-driven conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s Independent Lens, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders and organizations to discuss what matters most, from newsworthy topics, to family and relationships. Make friends, share stories, and join the conversation.

On February 2 and 3, 2017, KLRU hosted the Ready to Learn National Advisors Meeting. The annual meeting is typically held in Washington D.C.; this was their first-ever relocation to a community implementing Ready to Learn-funded activities. Over 50 advisors from higher education, media production, and public-serving agencies gathered to provide direction to the project, in order to discuss the content and curriculum being produced, its dissemination to communities in need, and to give input on how to best evaluate the project’s efficacy.

Ready to Learn Advisors in a panel discussion on the original Austin City Limits stage. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS Kids are leading the Ready to Learn: Community Collaboratives for Early Learning and Media project, funded by the Department of Education. The five year grant ( 2015 – 2020) calls upon up to 40 PBS stations from all over the nation and their local community organizations to disseminate scientific inquiry and literacy content to low-income children ages 2 – 8 years old.

From Left to Right: Ben Kramer, VP of Education at KLRU; Erica Gallardo-Taft, Vice President of Program Services at Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area; Eric Metcalf, Chief of Program Strategy at Communities In Schools of Central Texas; Robin Gose, Director of Education at Thinkery

In summer 2017, KLRU will pilot Odd Squad Summer Science Camp in which kids will solve problems to become Odd Squad agents. Another project coming down the pipeline is a new collection of Ruff Ruffman science materials.

Thank you to Thinkery for hosting one day of the workshop and to the city of Austin for wowing the Ready to Learn Advisory group. We hope that they will return in 2018.

Ready to Learn: Community Collaboratives for Early Learning and Media is funded by the US Department of Education and administered by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.